SSSTS Training in Norwich – £199 Live Online

Course overview

Course overview

Supervising a section of a live site is a different job from working on the tools, even when it happens on the same project you have been part of for years. Suddenly you are the person the gang looks to before they start, the one signing off that the scaffold has been checked, the one running the morning briefing and the one a visiting site manager questions when a method statement is not being followed to the letter. The CITB Site Supervisors’ Safety Training Scheme, better known as the SSSTS, exists to make sure that when a Norwich supervisor steps into that role they have the legal knowledge and the practical safety habits to carry it properly. Over two days it gives foremen, chargehands, gangers, team leaders and newly promoted first-line managers the grounding they need to run a work area safely and within the law.

We deliver this SSSTS as a live, tutor-led video-link class rather than a recorded module, which means a supervisor anywhere in Norwich, out across Norfolk or throughout the wider East Anglia region can gain the qualification without giving up two working days to the roads. You log in to a genuine classroom that is happening in real time, put your questions to the trainer as they occur to you, join in the exercises with the rest of the group and complete the assessment on screen. Delegates who would rather sit in a room with others can choose the classroom option instead. Whichever route you pick, you can book your SSSTS place online in a few minutes or call our team on 0808 164 2780.

What the SSSTS Is – and What It Is Not

The SSSTS is the standard first safety qualification for anyone carrying supervisory responsibility on a construction or civil engineering project. It carries CITB endorsement and sits within the recognised Site Safety Plus family of courses, and because it is accepted by the UK Contractors Group it has become the baseline that principal contractors, housebuilders and clients across the region look for before they let a supervisor take charge of an area of works.

One point worth settling early is the relationship between the SSSTS and the qualification people most often confuse it with. Both belong to the Site Safety Plus scheme, but they are aimed at different jobs. The SSSTS is the two-day course for the supervisor tier, written for the people who lead a squad, a trade or a defined part of the works. The SMSTS, the Site Management Safety Training Scheme, is the longer five-day programme built for site managers, agents and those who plan and control a whole project from the top. A quick way to place yourself is to ask what you are accountable for on any given day. If it is a team, a trade package or a zone of the site, the SSSTS is written for you. If you need the management-level course, our SMSTS course in Norwich covers that step.

Who Should Take This Course in Norwich

This qualification is aimed squarely at the people who direct the work of others on site, whether that duty has just been handed to you or has grown around you over several seasons. You are likely to be a good fit for the course if you recognise yourself in any of the following:

• A supervisor, ganger, chargehand or foreman on a site anywhere in Norwich or the surrounding Norfolk area
• Someone who has recently come off the tools and into a first-line management or team-leader position
• A skilled tradesperson being asked to take on supervisory duties for the first time
• The person responsible for running site inductions, delivering toolbox talks and giving daily task briefings
• Anyone required to monitor risk assessments and pass on the contents of method statements to a working team
• A supervisor operating across East Anglia whom a main contractor or client has asked to hold an in-date SSSTS card
• An employer or contracts manager looking to lift the safety competence of a supervisor who has just been promoted

You certainly do not need a long record of service to attend. In practice a large number of delegates arrange their SSSTS the moment a promotion is confirmed, so that the certificate and the new set of responsibilities arrive together rather than months apart. It is just as common to see the course booked by employers who are pitching for contracts across Norfolk and know that a client will want proof their supervisors are properly trained before work can begin. Whether you are the supervisor stepping up or the manager making sure the team is card-ready, the SSSTS is usually the qualification that unlocks the rest.

What the Course Covers

Over the two days your CITB-registered trainer works through both the legal framework a supervisor is expected to understand and the everyday safety skills they are expected to apply. The emphasis stays firmly on the real work of supervising, planning a task, briefing the people carrying it out, recognising a hazard and dealing with it, rather than on theory studied for its own sake. The main areas the course addresses include:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act and exactly where a supervisor’s duties sit within it
• How the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations shape responsibilities on a live site
• Reading, monitoring and clearly communicating risk assessments to a working team
• Turning method statements into safe systems of work that people actually follow on the ground
• Running site inductions and toolbox talks that hold attention and land their message
• Behavioural safety and the part a supervisor plays in shaping a positive attitude within the gang
• Occupational health, welfare provision and the common hazards encountered on construction sites
• The supervisor’s role in inspection, record-keeping and reporting up the chain

Because you are learning in a live class rather than clicking through slides alone, the sessions are driven by conversation and realistic worked scenarios rather than a one-directional lecture. You will talk through the situations that genuinely arise on projects around the county, and the breadth is considerable. Norwich supervisors deal with everything from city-centre commercial fit-outs and residential regeneration to the housing growth spreading north and east of the city, the agricultural and food-production buildings that are so much a feature of Norfolk, and the energy and civil engineering work tied to the coast around Great Yarmouth. Whatever corner of the industry you are in, you can put your own site questions to the trainer as they come up.

That mix of work matters, because the hazards a supervisor has to stay on top of shift with the sector. A tight refurbishment behind a shop front in the Norwich Lanes brings its own headaches around access, deliveries and members of the public passing within feet of the works, while an out-of-town distribution shed or a scheme on one of the growth sites around Broadland raises different questions about plant movements, groundworks and traffic management. The course does not pretend every job looks the same. It gives you a way of thinking about risk that you can apply to whichever project you are running, and the live format means you can test that thinking against the trainer and the other supervisors in the room rather than being left to work it out on your own back on site.

Structure and Assessment

The course is delivered across two days that run back to back, each session starting at 08:30 and wrapping up by 16:00. Finishing at four in the afternoon is deliberate. It leaves supervisors enough of the day to handle a late handover on site, collect children or fit the training around other commitments without being tied up until the evening.

The way you are assessed is clear and free of hidden traps. To come away with the qualification you will need to:

• Be present for both full days and take an active part in the group exercises
• Work through the short knowledge checks and activities that punctuate each session
• Sit and pass a multiple-choice examination at the close of the second day

The SSSTS courses we run achieve a 98% pass rate, and that figure owes a great deal to the fact that the learning happens live with a trainer who keeps testing understanding as the material unfolds. Take a full part across the two days and the examination very rarely catches anyone off guard. There is no need to revise for weeks beforehand either, because everything the exam draws on is covered in the sessions themselves, and the trainer will have flagged the points that matter most well before you reach the paper.

Entry Requirements

There are no formal prerequisites for the SSSTS, and you are not required to hold any earlier safety qualification before you book. What does matter is language, because every part of the course, from the training materials to the examination paper itself, is delivered in English, so delegates need a sound level of spoken and written English to keep pace with the sessions and complete the assessment. A background in construction is an advantage but is not a condition of attending. For the live online class you will also want a computer, laptop or tablet fitted with a webcam and microphone, which most current devices already have, together with a broadband connection that is steady enough to stay on a video call. If you have ever taken part in a video meeting you have all the equipment the course asks for, and full joining instructions are sent over to you beforehand.

Why Train Online From Norwich

Norwich has always been one of the more isolated of the larger English cities when it comes to reaching a training centre. Sitting out towards the east coast with no motorway running into it, the city is a fair distance from the country’s main clusters of classroom courses, and for supervisors based across Norfolk that has traditionally meant a real effort simply to attend. In the past, getting on a course could involve a long drive west, an uncomfortably early start or even a night away from home just to spend two days sitting in a room. Learning by live video link takes all of that friction away.

Rather than losing the best part of a morning to the A11 heading down towards Cambridge, or casting further afield to find a date with a seat free, your supervisors simply join from the kitchen table, the site cabin or anywhere with a signal, and they learn in a real classroom guided by a real trainer. It keeps people close to their projects, strips out the cost and the aggravation of travelling, and makes it far more practical to release two or three staff from the same firm on the same dates. For supervisors scattered across Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn, Thetford, Dereham, Wymondham, Diss and the many villages in between, everyone joins precisely the same course to the same standard, and not one of them has to work out where to leave the van.

None of the quality is sacrificed by learning remotely. You see and hear the trainer live throughout, you speak up the instant a question forms, you contribute to the group discussion and you sit exactly the same examination a classroom delegate would. For anyone who genuinely prefers a physical room the classroom option is still there to choose, but for the majority of supervisors working in and around Norwich the live online route is simply the more sensible way to get qualified and back on site.

There is a scheduling advantage worth spelling out as well. Because online dates come round more frequently than classroom courses in a city the size of Norwich, you are rarely forced to wait weeks for the next available seat or to pull a supervisor off a job at an awkward moment. If a contract lands at short notice and you suddenly need a certificated supervisor in place, an online date is usually within easy reach, and the same flexibility helps when you are trying to book a refresher before an existing card lapses. For a Norfolk business juggling several sites at once, that ease of scheduling can matter almost as much as the saving on travel.

Pricing

The CITB SSSTS is priced at £199 for the live online video-link class and £279 for the classroom option. Either way the fee covers the complete two days of tutor-led training, all of your course materials and the end-of-course examination. Pass the course and you are issued with the CITB Site Safety Plus SSSTS certificate, which stays valid for five years. To keep it live you take a one-day SSSTS Refresher course before the expiry date comes round, rather than sitting the full two-day course a second time. Many Norfolk employers are also registered with CITB and can claim a grant towards the cost of Site Safety Plus training, so it is well worth checking whether your firm is able to recover some of the fee. When you weigh the price against the alternative, the online class also spares you the fuel, the parking and the lost hours that a distant classroom would add on top of the course fee, which for a supervisor based on the far side of Norfolk is far from trivial. Set beside a certificate that lasts five years and is accepted right across the industry, it represents genuinely good value for a small firm as well as a large contractor.

How to Book

Reserving an SSSTS place in Norwich is a quick job. Decide whether the live online or classroom option suits you better, choose a date from the calendar and secure your place online. If you are arranging training for a number of supervisors together, or you want the course to line up with a project due to start on site, get in touch on 0808 164 2780 and our team will help you settle on dates that fit and answer anything you need to know about the course content, the technology or booking a group.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a training venue in Norwich, or can I take the SSSTS without leaving site?

You do not have to travel anywhere. We run the SSSTS as a live online video-link class, so supervisors in Norwich, right across Norfolk and throughout East Anglia can qualify from home or the site cabin with no journey involved. If you would genuinely rather attend in person, a classroom option is available as an alternative.

How many days does the course take and when does each day finish?

The SSSTS runs over two consecutive days. Each one begins at 08:30 and finishes by 16:00, so you are done by four o’clock on both days. You do need to attend both days in full, as complete attendance is one of the requirements for gaining the qualification.

Should I be booking the SSSTS or the SMSTS?

It comes down to your role. The SSSTS is the two-day course for supervisors, foremen, gangers and first-line managers who oversee a section of the work. The SMSTS is the five-day course for site managers and agents who plan and control an entire project. If you lead a team rather than run the whole site, the SSSTS is the one you want.

Will contractors and clients in Norwich and Norfolk accept the online SSSTS?

Yes. The qualification is identical no matter how you attend, so studying online makes no difference to how it is regarded. The SSSTS is endorsed by CITB and recognised by the UK Contractors Group, which means the certificate is accepted by principal contractors and clients throughout Norwich, Norfolk and the construction industry generally.

What is the price and what is included?

The live online video-link class costs £199 and the classroom option costs £279. That fee takes in the two days of tutor-led training, your course materials and the final examination, so there is nothing further to pay to sit the course and gain the certificate.

How long does the certificate last and what happens when it runs out?

The CITB SSSTS certificate is valid for five years from the date you pass. When it approaches expiry you renew it by taking a one-day SSSTS Refresher course rather than repeating the full two-day programme, which keeps your certification current with far less time off site.

Do I need any prior experience or a qualification to enrol?

No. There are no formal entry requirements and you do not need an existing safety qualification to attend. You will need a good standard of spoken and written English, since the materials and the exam are in English, and while some construction experience helps it is not essential. That is exactly why so many people take the SSSTS at the very point they move into a supervisory role.

Modules breakdown

Our comprehensive SSSTS training covers the following key areas:

Health and Safety Law

• Current legislation affecting construction supervision
• Legal responsibilities of supervisors on site
• Understanding Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) requirements
• Health and safety regulations specific to construction activities
• Consequences of non-compliance for individuals and companies

Risk Management

• Principles of risk assessment
• Understanding and implementing method statements
• Delivering method statement briefings for workers
• Managing common site hazards effectively
• Control measures for various construction activities
• Managing hazardous substances

Supervisory Responsibilities

• The supervisor’s role in safety management
• Building and maintaining a positive safety culture
• Identifying and addressing bad practice
• Effective communication techniques
• Managing subcontractors and visitors
• Conducting site inductions and safety briefings

Practical Safety Management

• Planning for site safety
• Conducting effective toolbox talks
• Safety inspection procedures
• Accident reporting and investigation
• Record-keeping requirements
• Promoting safety awareness among workers

Health and Wellbeing

• Occupational health concerns in construction
• Behavioural safety approaches
• Managing workplace stress
• Noise, vibration and dust exposure
• Manual handling best practices
• Worker welfare requirements

Environmental Issues

• Environmental responsibilities on site
• Waste management and reduction
• Energy efficiency considerations
• Pollution prevention
• Sustainable construction practices
• Regulatory compliance

Course Structure

The CITB SSSTS course is delivered over two consecutive days through our professional remote learning platform:

• Led by experienced instructors with extensive construction backgrounds
• Interactive sessions with fellow construction professionals
• Comprehensive digital training materials provided
• Practical scenarios and case studies
• Group discussions and knowledge-sharing opportunities

Full attendance across both days is required to qualify for the examination. The course combines theoretical knowledge with practical application to ensure relevance to daily supervisory duties.